ST. JAMES PARISH - A Louisiana company plans to invest more than $2.2 billion into a new chemical plant being built along the Mississippi River.

The governor's office announced Friday that South Louisiana Methanol is pursuing the investment in the site of a new methanol complex in St. James Parish last year. Preliminary work on the 1,500-acre site began last year and formal construction by Louisiana Methanol could begin this year pending successful negotiations with its potential new joint business partner, SABIC.

Through the project, South Louisiana Methanol and SABIC would create one of the world’s largest methanol production sites, according to the Louisiana Department of Economic Development. Originally announced in 2013 as a project of Texas-based ZEEP Inc. and New Zealand-based Todd Corporation, South Louisiana Methanol is now majority-owned by Todd Corporation and will pursue the joint-venture methanol project with SABIC.

The methanol project would create 75 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $71,400, plus benefits. In addition, the project would result in an estimated 350 new permanent indirect jobs while generating 800 construction jobs at peak building activity. South Louisiana Methanol is assembling a 1,500-acre site along the west bank of the Mississippi River, approximately eight miles south of the Sunshine Bridge.